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ADDR1SS 

AUG 



GRADUATES 



OF 



9t Jtoijtt'a <Ml?g? 



Class of 1905 



Mr. James F. Shea, 



it 



Class of '81 



LAFAYETTE SQUARE OPERA HOUSE, 

WASHINGTON, D. C. 

June 16, 1905 



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YOUNG gentlemen of the graduating 
class. The occasion which brings 
J us together this evening — the annual 
commencement exercises of St. John's Col- 
lege — in which you bear such a conspicuous 
part, constitutes an event in your lives, the 
importance and significance of which will, no 
doubt, be better appreciated by you in years 
to come than at present. Standing on the 
threshold of a new experience, surrounded 
by admiring friends and relatives, eager and 
anxious for the larger life that now opens out 
before you, you may indeed be excused if any 
serious thoughts of the future are lost in the 
joy and happiness which are rightly yours to- 
night ; and yet, as you pass from under the 
care of the Christian Brothers, to be, certainly 
to a greater extent than heretofore, your own 
masters, the question naturally propounds 
itself to each one of you — How shall I succeed 
in life ? What methods shall I adopt, what 
course shall I pursue to attain this end ? 

Coming as you do from a college which 
seeks to impart a practical education which 
shall be most useful and best suited for the 
activities of every day life, it is not my pur- 
pose to attempt to fill your minds with lofty 
and ambitious ideas of fame and glory, but 
rather to make a few suggestions which may 
be of service to you in the ordinary vocations 
of life for which the vast majority of us are 
destined and best suited. Every man has a 
distinct mission in this world ; every man has 



a duty to perform to society, one in one 
direction, another in another direction and so 
on, and the performance of this duty, the 
completion of this mission in such a manner 
that it shall tend to the greater honor and 
glory of God, the benefit and betterment of 
our fellowmen and the salvation of our own 
souls, is what constitutes the success of a life 
work. It is not a matter of position, wealth 
or power, but simply what we are in the sight 
of God, that determines this all-important 
question. 

At the very outset of your careers, my 
young friends, I beg of you to dismiss from 
your minds the idea, so prevalent amongst 
young men, that you will drift with the tide 
until something eventually turns up which 
will place you on the road to fame and fort- 
une ; this is an illusion you will do well to 
dispell at once, because success comes not as 
a mere caprice of fortune, but as the result 
of stead}-, continuous and well-directed effort 
and work. I would advise you to consider 
carefully and well the avocation in life for 
which by taste, inclination, talents and en- 
vironment, 3'ou appear to be best suited; this 
is a most important step and upon its proper 
direction may depend the whole course of 
your careers. Many of vou doubtless will 
find that in the beginning, your minds are not 
made up as to what particular course you are 
to follow — to such I w r ould say, embrace the 
best opportunity that presents itself ; enter 
upon your work with energy and determina- 
4 



tion, and in due course of time your proper 
calling will manifest itself ; particularly do I 
advise you not to turn aside from trie calling 
for which you appear to be best fitted simply 
because it does not appear high enough to 
suit your, or your parents ambitions, and 
whilst I do not wish to say anything to dis- 
courage a reasonable ambition, I would re- 
mind }^ou that we all cannot fill the so-called 
higher station of life ; we cannot all be pro- 
fessional men, and besides the humbler posi- 
tions in life bring their opportunities if we but 
make the proper use of them; after all, honest 
manhood dignifies the humblest calling and 
an industrious farmer or mechanic is a far 
more useful member of society than an indif- 
ferent lawyer or doctor ; and in addition the 
humbler stations of life bring with them a 
compensation in the way of peace, content- 
ment, and happiness which are frequently un- 
known to those who occupy the dizzy and 
perilous heights of greatness and power. 

Having once entered upon an occupation 
bring to it thoroughness and perseverance of 
purpose, attention to detail and a determina- 
tion to master it — these are the great essen- 
tials to success in every line of human en- 
deavor — if you have a position in an office or 
a business house or whatever it may be do 
not be content to drift along like a machine, 
merely doing what you are told — merely per- 
forming your duties in a perfunctory sort of 
way so that you may draw your salary on 
pay day; do not watch the clock too closely 
5 



when near the closing hour, or imagine that 
you do yourself an injustice if you occasionly 
work overtime — on the contrary study the re- 
quirements of your position — understand its 
details, strive to improve them, and in a short 
while it will be found that you are fitted for 
large responsibilities. This is the way to get 
on in the world — dismiss from your minds 
day dreams about the future, concentrate 
your energies upon the duties of the present, 
and thus rise with each new experience upon 
the stepping stones of success. You should 
also guard yourselves against a weakness 
common to a large part of humanity and 
which is responsible for the greater number 
of failures in life — that of being easily dis- 
couraged ; we all must expect a certain 
amount of losses, of failures, a certain amount 
of obstacles that have to be overcome and if 
we but meet them in the right and manly way 
they will be the means of our becoming better 
and stronger men as the lives of so many men 
who have made their mark in this world will 
testify, whose early failures and setbacks 
were really the means by which they after- 
wards rose to success and greatness. Another 
very important matter which must not be over- 
looked is the care of your health ; in the stress 
and struggle of every day life good health and 
a good constitution are most necessary factors, 
and it not infrequently happens that men give 
too much time and energy to their affairs with 
the result that they break down prematurely 
and are afterwards compelled to spend gen- 
6 



erously of their time and money in the diffi- 
cult task of regaining lost health. The lesson 
you are to draw from this is that the major 
portion of }^our time is to be devoted to the 
duties of your station, a certain amount should 
also be reserved for leisure and recreation; 
the effect of this rule will not only tend to 
preserve your health and strength, but also 
to render your work more pleasant and en- 
joyable. 

You are certainly fortunate, my young 
friends, in the training you have thus far re- 
ceived ; you go forth from this institution of 
learning well equipped for a future which 
appears full of promise for those who would 
make it worth while ; full of opportunity for 
those w T ho work with a will and whose ideas 
are upward and onward ; in this day and 
generation science and invention have brought 
the peoples of the earth closely together — be- 
fore breakfast time tomorrow morning we 
may read the main happenings of today 
throughout the world — and to a greater ex- 
tent than ever before the eyes of the world 
are centered upon this country — the spirit of 
liberty is spreading, and our influence is being 
felt in other lands — and we, too, at home, have 
also important problems of our own to solve ; 
the relations of Capital and L,abor, the too 
great concentration of power and wealth, the 
evils of corrupt politics and many other social 
and economic problems which will require 
calm, patient, and intelligent judgment to 
properly settle. I congratulate you on the 
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success which has attended your scholastic 
labors, and on your being so well fitted for the 
duties and responsibilities of American citizen- 
ship which you are soon to assume — to assist 
in solving in an intelligent and patriotic man- 
ner the different problems which this age like 
every other age will have presented to it ; to 
assist in maintaining the glorious record of 
our country, so that we may, even to a greater 
extent than heretofore exercise an influence 
for good amongst the nations of the earth. 
You have been trained by the disciples of 
De LaSalle, by men who have given up home 
and kindred and all that the world holds 
dearest to devote themselves to the cause of 
religious and practical education — to the end 
that you may be properly prepared for 
your life work ; and, tonight your teachers, 
and your many friends who are gathered 
here, bid you Godspeed, their hopes and 
best wishes will follow you in the new 
and larger life which lies before you ; go 
forth, then, with courage and determination, 
resolved that no matter what the future 
may have in store for you, through sun- 
shine or sorrow, success or disappointment 
you will adhere firmly to the teachings of our 
holy religion without which you can have no 
real success ; that you will do your duty as 
you see and understand it ; that you will 
make the best of your opportunities, and live 
so as to be useful and respected members of 
your community, and honor to your Alma 
Mater, and a credit to yourselves. 
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